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The Bearings and Seals Laboratory (BSL) was established in 1999 in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Kentucky. Researchers at the BSL conduct basic and applied research on technologies that impact the performance and reliability of machines with moving parts. This work falls under the scope of research called “tribology”, a term first used in 1966, which is defined in the Oxford dictionary as the “science and technology of interacting surfaces in relative motion, and the practices related thereto.”
Tribology is a broad area of research and encompasses different traditional research areas. Those traditional research areas that are focused upon in the BSL include machine component design, wear characterization, mechanics/strength of materials, dynamic systems and controls, and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). Current BSL research falls into the following groups:
- Surface Textures for Enhanced Lubrication of Mechanical Components
- Micro Heat Sinks for Enhanced Reliability in Bearings and Seals
- Magnetic Bearings and Self Bearing Motors
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